1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer driver, an information processing apparatus, and a computer-readable recording medium recording therein a printer driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printers of different models have different functions, and sometimes an option is added to extend such functions. For example, if a finisher is attached to or removed from the main body of a printer, a number of usable functions increases or decreases. If the number of functions increases or decreases, an amount of information such as setting values that a printer driver must store therein also increases or decreases.
To address such an issue, has been disclosed a technology for generating data that can be processed by a printer without the need for printer function extensions. For example, according to the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-097574, in a data structure storing therein print settings (for example, a Devmode structure), an area is reserved for print setting values that are set based on function setting information related to printer functions, and the print setting values are assigned to the area. The function setting information is referred to when the printer-processable data is generated from the print setting values assigned to the data structure. The technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-097574 can generate such data that can be processed by a printer without the need for printer function extensions by adopting such a structure.
In a conventional printer driver, setting values have always been stored in a data structure format, in the same manner as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-097574.
However, this data structure has a format that stores data in a computer program, and its data structure is statically determined when it is coded. Therefore, if the number of printer functions increases or decreases, especially if the number increases, the data structure must be updated (re-designed). In other words, the data structure must be re-coded and re-compiled to extend the data structure storing therein print settings. Therefore, a modified printer driver must be re-created and re-distributed to support the printer function extensions.